The IKEA Concept starts with the idea of providing a range of home furnishing products that are affordable to the many people, not just the few. It is achieved by combining function, quality, design and value - always with sustainability in mind. The IKEA Concept exists in every part of our company, from design, sourcing, packing and distributing through to our business model. Our aim is to help more people live a better life at home.

Bringing the IKEA Concept to life

The IKEA Concept comes to life in many ways: Through our worldwide stores, in the IKEA catalogue, via the web and apps, and most importantly in millions of homes around the world.

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The IKEA catalogue, now with augmented reality.

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The story behind the name

The IKEA name combines the initials of IKEA founder, Ingvar Kamprad, (IK) with the first letters from the names of the farm and village where he grew up - Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd (EA). The IKEA logo has hardly changed during the company’s history and the 1967 version remains a consistent symbol of the IKEA business.

Together we save money

IKEA customers play an important role in what we call our democratic design process: We do our part, you do your part, together we save money. Customers get involved in many ways - assembling flat-pack products (first used over 60 years ago for the LÖVET table), having a climate positive approach at home and giving us feedback - are just a few. See the LÖVBACKEN side table.

In the early 1980s - with IKEA stores in 20 countries and expanding - IKEA founder, Ingvar Kamprad, realised he needed to protect the unique IKEA Concept as part of the company’s growth. He wanted total independence and a long-term ownership structure, so the stock market wasn’t an option. Plus, he believed that all the companies operating under the IKEA Brand had to build resources before they could expand.

So, the IKEA franchise system was established. Today all IKEA stores (except the IKEA Delft store in the Netherlands, which is owned by Inter IKEA Systems B.V.) operate under franchise agreements. Inter IKEA Systems B.V. is the owner of the IKEA Concept and worldwide IKEA franchisor. Learn more about franchising the IKEA way.